Women devs speak out on rampant industry sexism

Hundreds of women game designers have spoken out on Twitter about rampant sexism in the game industry as the reason why there are so few female developers in the sector.

Taking to Twitter to vent their feelings in their hundreds over the hashtag ‘1reasonwhy’, developers and female gamers alike lamented the industry for hindering their chances of progression because of their gender and making female players feel unwelcome in gaming.

MakieLab CEO Alice Taylor, who runs a successful business in 3D toy printing, admitted she had applied for a number of game producer jobs in the past, but was told she did not have enough experience despite a CV bursting with a seasoned skillset.

“Applied for a number of game producer jobs, with a software start-up under my belt & software exec prod at BBC. "No relevant experience",” she said.

“To be fair, it was a UK games recruiter who said that, and they weren’t *that* evolved ten years ago. I’d hope it’s better today…”

Another person to speak out on Twitter, Lillian Cohen-Moore, claimed she been repeatedly sexually harassed attending game industry events during her first year in the sector.

Positech Games founder Cliffski meanwhile said that he had previously experienced less sexism in other industries such as boatbuilding.

“Funny to think back that there seemed to be less sexism in boatbuilding, when I did that, than in game development. madness #1reasonwhy,” he said.

Other examples of industry sexism came from Twitter users such as Leena, who said she that she was trying to set up a support network for women in digital culture, but people in the industry “have a problem with that”.

Stephanie Chan also claimed that having been offered to have her portfolio reviewed for a job, “the guy immediately left when he found out I wasn’t single”.

One game designer who goes by the Twitter handle ‘Filamena’ made a number of tweets on the matter, and claimed that she had been left out of discussions about new games and designers on a number of occasions, while she also said she could not name and shame, as it may ruin her career chances.

“When it comes time to talk about new, exciting games and designers, I may be left out because I ‘whine’ too much.”

She added: “There are men in and around the industry you ‘can’t’ call out for being dicks because it could ruin your chances.”

Have you experienced issues of sexism in the game industry? Please let us know in the comment section below.

You can also follow the Twitter hashtag #1ReasonWhy to read hundreds of tweets on the matter.